FederalismFederalism is a system of government widely accepted in North American cultures. To many North Americans it seems to be the most obvious choice for all governments in the world, but this is not the case. In all honesty, federalism is a fairly unique form of government. Out of approximately two hundred nations on earth, one hundred and eighty states practice unitary forms of government, leaving only about twenty as federal nations (Winchester, 1999). Unitary forms of government consist of only one level of government. These are very popular in modern politics as they are much cheaper to run and maintain, whilst still meeting the needs of most countries. Examples of countries that use unitary governments include France, the United Kingdom, and Italy. Even in a smaller, more homogeneous country like France there is little need for a second level of government. Federalism tends to be the product of states with large tracts of territory, diverse populations, and/or regional governments reluctant to join together in a confederation. Federalism is defined as “a political organization in which government activities are divided between regional governments and the federal government” (Jackson, 221). The “division of activities” is often referred to as the “division of powers” ​​between a central government and regional governments. The division of powers is made possible through a written constitution, which establishes which level of government will receive which power. In Canada these powers are divided between provincial powers and federal powers. Provincial powers are the exclusive responsibility of the province as outlined in the constitution. Some examples of provincial powers include health care, welfare and ed... at the paper level... at the deral level. It is through this dual system that the nation can achieve nationalism by controlling some powers at the national level, and the nation can strengthen regional representation by having the local government take care of regional issues. Works Cited: Forbes, HD Canadian Political Thought, Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1988. Jackson, Robert J., Doreen Jackson, Political Science: Comperative and World Politics, third ed., Scarborough, Ontario, Prentice Hall, 1997. Marchak, Patricia M., Ideological Perspectives on Canada, Toronto, McGraw -Hill Ryerson Limited, 1975. Wijemanne, Adrian, Nationalism, Federalism, and Realism, 1997. http://www.eng.carleton.ca/-/sutha/analysis/ fed_nat.htmlWinchester, David, Constitutionalism Lecture, November 21, 1999Diamon and Wright, History of US Federalism 1996 http://w3.satelin.net/-kala/fed/history/html